A jump in school enrolment this past fall —and more students expected to arrive in coming years — means bigger school budgets, according to School District 43's (SD43) three-year forecast.
On Tuesday (April 11), the board of education got their first look at a $370.8-million budget for 2023-24, up from $344 million in 2022-23, with anticipated increases in revenue due to additional funding to accommodate more students.
Year to year student enrolment increases are usually small — roughly about 150 FTE (full-time equivalent students) per year.
But in September, SD43 registered as many as 800 students with another 250 new students enrolling in the district through the fall and winter.
With additional students comes requirements for 34 more teachers, 11 education assistants, one administrator, two support workers, and a payroll coordinator to handle an increase in reporting requirements.
The new administrator, meanwhile, would take on the job of a principal for diversity and anti-racism, according to SD43 budget documents.
To prepare for next fall, the district will need seven new portables, which cost approximately $300,000 each, including installation.
However, the cost will have to come out of the district's operating budget because the province doesn't cover the cost of portables.
The portables will be installed at:
- Banting Middle (four)
- Minnekhada Middle (one)
- Cape Horn Elementary (one)
- James Park Elementary (one)
Two portables will be also relocated from Irvine Elementary to Minnekhada Middle.
According to SD43, enrolment growth isn't spread evenly throughout the district but is chiefly found in Burke Mountain, Coquitlam Centre, Burquitlam-Lougheed, and Moody Centre.
"New housing developments do not necessarily generate increased enrolment, but often create a shift of enrolment geographically within SD43. These new developments do however put additional pressure for capital needs for new schools or additions to existing schools," SD43's budget document notes.
In addition to installing new portables, the district will be re-purposing unused or underutilized spaces at Centennial Secondary, Pinetree Secondary and Montgomery Middle into classroom spaces to address class size and composition issues.
Why is enrolment going up?
SD43 has been up front about where the new enrolment is coming from.
According to the district, federally-approved increased immigration accounts for the additional students — a trend which isn't expected to slow in the coming years.
"The district has experienced a significant increase in international funding eligible students and this is directly associated with the federal government's significant expansion of immigrant newcomers to Canada."
The increase in student enrolment also requires attention to the "unique needs" of students and in its budget forecast, the district expects to hire 10 education assistants to support students with these unique needs.
As well, it will top up two youth worker positions at Como Lake Middle, and at Encompass to support new Provincial Online Learning program and allocate the remaining 1.0 FTE as needed at the elementary level.
The district is also facing significant challenges in balancing its budget, due to the fact that the province doesn't cover inflation or all the contracted salary increases.
It notes that the district expects to receive $740 per student grant funding to cover wage increases which includes the amount for contractual wage settlements for teachers and support staff and the equivalent of one year of wage increments provided to excluded staff for 2022-23.
However, the province didn't explain how the additional funding was calculated and SD43 maintains the funding allotment is $5.1 million short.
The school district relies on the International Education program to make up the shortfalls but due to COVID-19 restrictions is building the program back up.
International students still enrolling
It hopes to see 1,050 fee paying students for the 2023-24 school year, down significantly from more than 2,000 students who enrolled four years ago but up slightly from this year.
According to SD43, international students only "utilize space in classrooms that would otherwise go unused by students who reside within the boundaries" of the district.
The public will be able to comment on the budget at the next board meeting on April 18, 6:30 p.m. at the board office (1080 Winslow Ave.), followed by approval on April 25 at 7 p.m.
